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This week, on the cusp of \u00a0the publication of her fifth Zapato Power book,\u00a0Freddie Ramos Stomps the Snow<\/a>, Jackie answered some questions about everyone’s favorite Olympic sport<\/a>: genre jumping.<\/p>\nME: Which came first, chicken or egg, poetry, picture book or novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n JACQUELINE: I wrote poetry long before I wrote short stories, picture books, or novels. I started in middle school.<\/p>\n ME: What was the first thing you published?<\/strong><\/p>\n JACQUELINE: I am not 100% sure but I know it was a poem. My earliest publications included poems in Young Judaea Magazine, Cosmopolitan, <\/em>and America.<\/em><\/p>\n When did you publish something in a different form? <\/strong>I published a short story in Young\u00a0Judaea\u00a0Magazine<\/em> and then I had a humor essay published in Woman\u2019s World. <\/em>I also did essays and articles for local newspapers during this time. (The late 1980\u2019s).<\/p>\n JACQUELINE: It is not unusual for me to work on both poems and picture books in the same week or even the same day. Yesterday evening, I had the files open for a poem and an easy reader. I switched back and forth, fiddling with both files before giving up and going to bed. When I woke up, the words for the poem fell into place. Then after lunch, I concentrated on the easy reader. That\u2019s how it works sometimes. Other times, I feel like I have to see where I\u2019m going with a project and I keep a single-minded focus until I come to the end of a first draft or a chapter.<\/p>\n Silhouettes of cherry trees. Photo by My Kid<\/p><\/div>\n ME: Are there themes or places in your picture books that you tend to explore again in your poetry or novels? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>JACQUELINE: There are many ways to view the same topic. Visual artists often do a series of self-portraits or still lifes. In the same way, I like to explore the same topic with different imagery and insights. \u00a0I\u2019ve written a number of poems<\/a> about my obsession with time (losing it, hoarding it, seeing it pass too quickly). I have a series of parenting poems, of poems adjusting to change, and several poems about a happy obsession\u2014the spring cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin<\/a>.<\/p>\n ME: Picture books, poetry, or novels? Do you have a preference? Or if you can’t choose, tell me what you like\/don’t like about each form.<\/strong><\/p>\n JACQUELINE: I probably enjoy writing poetry the most. Sometimes my self-indulgent reward for finishing a draft of something else is allowing myself to spend the whole day working on a poem or revising existing ones. It can take weeks to write a poem. So most of the time, I write poetry in my head on walks, when I\u2019m driving the car, doing the dishes, taking a shower, etc. Thinking about the lines of a poem often relaxes me into sleep.<\/p>\n \u00a0ME:\u00a0What have your picture books taught you about novel writing and poetry? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>JACQUELINE: Picture books have taught me to think more visually. I often pull up a picture now on Google images to help me describe something better.<\/p>\n ME: What has your novel writing taught you about your poetry and picture books? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>JACQUELINE: Novel writing affords the opportunity to delve deeper into a character and use more description. It\u2019s quite different from writing poetry or picture books. When I write a picture book, I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want the ending to be. When I write a novel, I am not so sure where the characters are going. I often want to keep writing because I am interested in how the story will end, just like when I read a book.<\/p>\n ME:\u00a0You can probably guess the next question: what has poetry taught you about your other forms? <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>JACQUELINE: Economy of language is everything. Don\u2019t say it in five words if three succinct words will do. While I often repeat myself nervously in conversation (a trait I am always unsuccessfully trying to control), I go over and over my poems to eliminate any unnecessary words. I do the same with my picture books. Writing poetry is the best exercise to prepare a writer for picture books. I love the thrill of saying the very same thing, only more compactly, in heightened language.<\/p>\n ME: Is there a genre of literature you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n JACQUELINE: I love to read historical fiction but I am not sure I would have the confidence to do all the research necessary unless it was an era like the 1960\u2019s in which I personally experienced.<\/p>\n You should see the variety of items Jacqueline Jules brings in to our writing critique group every other week. Picture books, poems, middle-grades, early readers. You name it, Jackie’s written it. This week, on the cusp of \u00a0the publication of … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.squealermusic.com\/madclips\/wordpress2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/freddie-223x300.jpg\" "\\"freddie\\"")
ME: Are you a one-project-at-a-time person, or do you tend to mix it up? How easy is it for you to go back and forth between forms? In other words, talk a bit about your writing life.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.squealermusic.com\/madclips\/wordpress2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/IMG_6215-300x200.jpg\" "\\"IMG_6215\\"")
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Thanks, Jackie! You can visit Jackie at her web site at jacquelinejules.com<\/a>. Her upcoming books, all due out in 2014, include Freddie Ramos Stomps the Snow<\/a>, an early chapter book, Field Trip to the Museum<\/a>, a poetry chapbook, and Never Say a Mean Word Again<\/a>, a picture book based on a medieval legend. That’s a hat trick!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"